Bangor primary first to close after Covid cases

A primary school in Bangor is the first to close completely in Northern Ireland after two cases of coronavirus were identified, BBC News NI understands.

St Comgall’s Primary said the decision to shut for 14 days was approved “at a higher level”.

Principal Cathy Hunter said she had “no other option” but said there was “no need to panic”.

Pupils from two classes have been told to self-isolate and the school will reopen on 12 October, it is understood.

In a message to parents, Mrs Hunter said the move was to “protect the health and safety of the whole school community” after a further case was identified within the school community.

“Please reassure your child that all is well,” she said.

“I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused but know that you will want to support this decision in order to return out school community safely as soon as we can.”

All learning will now take place online.

According to the most recent information available, St Comgall’s has 312 pupils.

Education Minister Peter Weir told the BBC’s Evening Extra programme that he would not comment on individual schools.

“The advice that is given is that where there is someone who has tested positive, the school is to draw up a list of close contacts – those who have been within 2m for 15 minutes or more – and for those individuals, in correspondence with the Public Health Agency, to self-isolate,” he said.

“In the vast majority of cases, it shouldn’t be a whole school or for a very lengthy period.”

• Schools to get new guidance on Covid cases
• Face visors not recommended for routine school use

A number of schools in NI have reported positive Covid-19 cases among staff or pupils since schools began to reopen on 24 August.

In the vast majority of cases, specific classes of pupils have been told to self-isolate following advice from the Public Health Agency.

A number of schools have closed for deep cleans after positive tests but only for a short period.

Last week, Holy Cross College in Strabane and Malone College in Belfast closed for a number of days after positive cases were reported.

Earlier, Fleming Fulton, a special school in Belfast, closed after two members of staff tested positive.

Bangor councillor Barry McKee said he believed St Comgall’s Primary School had given “good advice to parents” not to panic.

“I would encourage our children to continue their studies as best they can from home, with the support of their teachers,” he added.

He said employers should be “as flexible as possible with parents”.

‘Our children will suffer’

But one parent, who did not wish to be named, said: “I’m disappointed and angry that this is the first school in NI to close completely [for two weeks] and has shown such a lack of resilience.

“Parents are now faced again with the unrelenting challenge of homeschooling while juggling work and other commitments.

“Yet again it is our children who will suffer most.

“Schools must ensure they have adequate systems in place to avoid school-wide closures for minimal cases.”

At the start of September, Stormont’s education committee was told there had been “88 reports into schools of a positive case in 64 educational settings”, however, there has been no update since then.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland remains at 578, according to the latest Department of Health statistics.

There were no further deaths reported by the department on Monday.

The total number of cases in the past 24 hours increased by 220, with the total number of people testing positive now 10,949 – with 999 of those being recorded in the past four days.